A prominent Catholic advocacy group has launched a $1 million campaign to encourage a boycott of the team following the Los Angeles Dodgers’ tribute to an anti-Catholic hate group known for using nun attire in drag performances.
Brian Burch of CatholicVote explained the effort in a letter to the team’s executives, Mark Walter and CEO Stan Kasten, Fox News reported.
“I represent the nation’s largest lay Catholic advocacy organization,” Burch wrote. “We are supported by millions of devoted Catholics across America who believe that the time-honored values of life, family, and freedom — which the Dodgers used to celebrate — are demonstrably good for America, and worthy of respect, not ridicule.”
“We wrote to you last week with a reasonable ask: Please do not honor this anti-Catholic hate group,” Burch told the Dodgers’ administrators. “There is no place for anti-Catholic bigotry, mocking of religious sisters, or celebrating a perverse activist group whose identity is marked by blasphemy and mockery of Catholics.”
In the letter, Burch raised doubts about Kasten’s statement to the Los Angeles Times, where he claimed that the Dodgers’ management was open to input from all parties regarding the inclusion of the anti-Catholic drag queen troupe Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the outlet reported.
“Prior to the launch of this campaign, we are requesting yet another opportunity to speak by telephone or to meet in person with an appropriate representative so that you can better understand the extraordinary harm and hurt your decision has engendered,” Burch wrote.
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Dodgers made an announcement to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of “queer and trans nuns,” during a June 16 event. However, the decision faced swift backlash from religious organizations due to the group’s history of promoting anti-Catholic messaging and controversial performances.
After the backlash, the team backpedaled and said it would not feature the Sisters group. But then, the team reversed course again after LA Pride announced it wouldn’t be participating in Pride Night in solidarity with the drag queen group.
“After much thoughtful feedback from our diverse communities, honest conversations within the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and generous discussions with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Los Angeles Dodgers would like to offer our sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and families,” the organization said.
Burch, in his letter, gave Walter and Kasten his cell number and offered to meet with them “at any time, anywhere.”
“The voices of Catholics — including clergy and religious sisters, which we would include — need to be heard. We are hopeful you will match your rhetoric of ‘listening to everyone’ with action,” the letter said.
